Well, the series is at 3-2 Sac and it's do or die for the Lakers and I don't expect them to take that sitting down, epecially a the Staples Center. I am expecting LA to come out a lot more agressively in the first quarter than they have in the rest of the series and I think Shaq is going to get involved huge tonight and put up around 36-40. Kobe will be on, Robert Horry & Rock Fox will be on and hopefully Devean George won't touch the ball. In a competitive game, look for LA to basically dominate the tempo from the outset and the final results to be the Lakers by 10.

I meant to do this a while ago, but I am in your camp Sir Frost Freeze. The Lakers are best when they are against the ropes, and I still see Lakers winning the series and defeating the Nets (or the Celtics) in the finals.

Originally posted by CRZI can't figure how this game is suddenly going to be drastically different from the way this series has been going...

Assuming the refs stay consistent (50/50 chance of THAT), I think it'll come down to the last shot and also I shall experience stress.

The only reason I think this game may go a bit different is the way Shaq was playing before he fouled out in game 5. I think he made his last eight shots, and most of them were dunks. He seemed ready to stop keeping everyone involved and start putting it all on his back.

So far both teams are playing pretty good ball with Rick Fox making some big shots, Kobe and Shaq playing pretty solid. Mike Bibby isn't shooting well or handling the ball well and I think LA is right where they need to be. I am so confident in an LA victory that I will swallow my pride and devote an entire paragraph in my next news update to how much I love the Kings if they can win the series. I would really hate to do so but I've got faith in LA stepping up when they know that they need to. Still calling LA by 10.

That was fun again. There were three questionable calls in the fourth quarter, with the obvious one being Kobe attempting to knock Bibby out. But I feel no sympathy for the Kings. Shaq was a monster, and Kobe didn't disappear. The only way the Kings win this series now is if Shaq fouls out. Otherwise I don't think he will let them lose.

Happy birthday to the Los Angeles Lakers. Hope you like the referees gift-wrapping Game 6 and handing it to you on a silver platter despite the fact that the Kings outplayed you in many facets of the game, including...

That was the most ridiculous display of complete and utter bullshit by an officiating crew I've ever seen. Ridiculous calls on touch fouls, Lakers mauling Kings and getting away with him, Bryant leveling Bibby like a Mack truck at the end and getting rewarded with two free throws to seal it instead of a foul...

If the Lakers win, it's because the NBA office and the officiating crews gave it to them, not because they were the better team in this series.

The other call that really bothered me... that offensive foul call on Webber in the lane. It was so obvious that Horry wasn't set and was moving with him (and therefore, the foul should have been on Horry) but lookie what it did...

--- It was Webber's fifth, which forced him to loosen up his D for the rest of the game and let the Lakers get crucial easy baskets--- Sacramento had been on a roll, LA had just scored, and Sacramento would have reversed the momentum if the basket and foul against HORRY had been called as it should have

ekedolphin: Don't you get it? That's what they were trying to do. That's why Kobe had to run over Bibby like a Mack truck (and again, it burns me up that the refs let him get away with it). And as for Vlade, yes, he made some stupid plays, but half the fouls called on him were cheap touch fouls that the Lakers weren't getting called against them. Same for Pollard.

Utter crap... I hope the PTI guys really lambast the NBA officials for this bullshit on Monday if the Lakers win the series...

Come on now, why is it that the officiating has been questioned SO heavily after every single Kings loss yet hardly nothing has been said when the Kings win. In my opinion, Shaq's 6th foul in game 5 was just stupid and not something that should have taken him out of the game, especially considering the fact that Bibby was out of control and that the refs should more or less be letting the teams play in the 4th and not calling brush fouls on the dribble. Sure the foul was in the rulebook (Unless Guru Zim in making up playbook passages again and hoping we won't notice, j/k), but is it REALLY something they should be calling when the season is on the line and the man with the ball is stumbling through traffic underneath and losing his footing on his own? I don't think so and I think with Shaq staying in the game the Lakers would have had a good shot at winning game 5 Bottom line is that the Kings and their fans are so busy worrying about officiating that they are failing to see the weaknesses in their own game (admittedly not many of them, but some). Lakers fans had every right to bitch and moan about officiating but they aren't using it for a crutch when it comes to losing games like the Kings do. The officiating has been spotty going both ways in this series, but people are keeping such a close eye on that that they don't realize that it's not really that much worse than any other series. I don't think that the NBA or David Stern have any kind of a secret conspiracy going to make sure the Lakers end up in the finals.Sure the Kings may have beaten the Kings on the statlines in a few categories, but at the end of the game only one thing is important and I think we all know what that is. The Lakers, especially playing at home, were the better team through some exceptional play from Shaq, Kobe and Robert Horry as always and some big shots by B Shaw and Rick Fox when the Lakers needed them. Game 7 will be "off the chain" as 14 year old white kids in Fubu jerseys say and I think it will definitely come down to the last 2:00 of the 4th, but the Lakers will prevail and I stand by my statement in regards to a King's praising column if they lose.

Hmmm, Kings have home court advantage, Lakers were last years champs, and it's game 7 in the Western Conference Playoffs. So Kings 7 Lakers 0..... errr... Kings 130, Lakers 50... yeah. That's about it.

Lets not ignore the fact that Kobe's elbow was 100% intentional and at the LEAST should have been called a phase 2 flagrant foul. If that happens(which it should have) the Kings get 2 free throws and possesion. Instead the officials force the Kings to burn their final timeout and send Kobe to the line. WHat a crock. If it was unintentional, Kobe would have at least looked at Bibby after he hit him.. and appologized right away... Instead we get NO reflex reaction from Kobe (meaning it wasn't unexpected) and an appology after the game is out of reach.. and that idiot commentator(not Walton or Marv, the other guy) marveling over how competitive Kobe is on EVRY PLAY and making excuses for Kobe on why the elbow was "unintentional". That whole game is BS and the series has been BS. I'd say 95% of the calls go LAs way. The 5 that don't are pointed out throughly by every Lakers fan and staff member like it was an intentional elbow to the face or something.. Nevermind the fact that Mike bibby has been getting the living shit beat out of him for 6 straight games with very little being called. And of course Shaq and Kobes non stop offensive fouling and Kobe's tough "defense" which consists of grabbing kneeing and slapping at the player. I guess elbowing is in the rulebook too, as long as you level your opponent with it.If the Lakers win this series I and I'm sure many other fans will not watch the Finals or support the NBA very much anymore, until the Lakers get what they deserve.. a series LOSS. Kobe should be suspended for that elbow, bottom line.